


Funny How Fate Works

by kmc995



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt, Feels, Gen, If You Squint - Freeform, Season 4 Spoilers, Season 4/Episode 1, Slight Panic Attack, klance, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 13:24:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12366705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmc995/pseuds/kmc995
Summary: The sound of the door sliding shut behind him was louder than usual. All other sounds seemed to disappear as the click echoed around him, and Keith couldn’t breathe for a moment.He was doing this. He was really doing this.He was leaving Voltron…his team. His only family.





	Funny How Fate Works

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted anything for years -- but I've been obsessed with Voltron Legendary Defender lately and I just couldn't handle the feels with the latest season.
> 
> Please be gentle, like I said it's been a while since I've written anything for posting, and this is my first story for the Voltron Fandom. Not proof read so I'm sure there are a plethora of mistakes.
> 
> Feel free to comment! :)

    The sound of the door sliding shut behind him was louder than usual. All other sounds seemed to disappear as the click echoed around him, and Keith couldn’t breathe for a moment.

  
     He was doing this. He was really doing this.

  
     He was leaving Voltron…his team. His only family.

  
     It had to be done, though. They didn’t seem to understand that Keith wasn’t fit to lead – that Shiro was the rightful Paladin of the Black Lion. They didn’t – they couldn’t…so he had to take matters in his own hands.

  
     Did what he does best: push people away.

  
     Keith squared his shoulders and forced his legs to move forward, forced his eyes to stare unflinchingly at the wall ahead of him. He wouldn’t look back. He _couldn’t_ look back. He knew where he needed to go, barely paying attention to his surroundings. He moved through muscle memory. He knew when to take a left, when to take a right – the path was burned into his brain.

  
     When he made it to his room, he hesitated before pressing his hand to the sensor. It felt like an intrusion already – like it wasn’t and never had been his room. His inner voice screamed that he was wrong and he was lying to himself, but he shoved that part of him to the side with clenched his fists. It had just been a temporary place to sleep. Nothing out of the ordinary.

  
     He didn’t have many possessions, making his packing fast and easy. He grabbed the only spare set of clothes he had and wrapped it in his jacket, tying the sleeves together to form a makeshift pack.  
Ignoring the emotion welling up in his chest as he shut his door for the last time, Keith resolutely started towards his ship. There was no need to linger on details or take last looks. Not anymore, at least.

  
     He walked in a haze. He threw his hood up to prevent wandering eyes, however, it did nothing to prevent the dangerous spiraling of thoughts.

  
     He had finally found a family, a place to call home. And he had to go ruin it all. Of course he did. It was funny, how Fate had a knack for twisting the knife in his gut when he least expected it.

  
     Don’t let people close – they always end up leaving. It would make the break easier, less painful. He knows this. He’s been telling himself this all his life – told himself when his father was taken away him, leaving him by himself for the first time as a kid, told himself when the countless foster families abandoned him just like his mother had, told himself when Shiro never came back even though he _promised_. He promised.

  
     And every time – _every goddamn time_ – he fell for it. This time was no exception, only this time… _he_ was the one walking away. He tried, he really did – to push them away, to stay back and keep to himself. But somehow, they found a way to get through the walls he built. He didn’t know how or when, but they did – of _course_ they did, and the barriers he was trying desperately to rebuild lay crumpled in heap of dust.

  
     And it _hurt_.

  
     There was nothing to hold back the tears anymore as the last piece blew away in the angry winds ripping through his head. The dam had broken. Hot streams slipped down his cheeks in silent sobs as Keith fell against the wall. His shoulders shook violently as he tried miserably to stop the flow with the heels of his hands.

  
     _Get a hold of yourself!_

  
_You’re stronger than this!_

  
_This is what you wanted, isn’t it!?_

  
     He took a few shuddering breaths through clenched teeth in an effort to quell the war between his heart and mind. It would be _so easy_ to stay. It would, but he knows in his heart of hearts that this is the right thing to do – his energy would be better spent with the Blade of Marmora. Voltron could and _would_ continue on without him – he was too hot-headed and impulsive to be an effective leader, let alone a Defender of the Universe – something that’s been proven time and time again.

  
     The team they had now was everything Voltron should be – everything the Universe deserved. He had no doubt in their ability to continue the labors of spreading peace and protection. But Keith couldn’t just sit there and watch from the sidelines – he needed to be doing something. There was no point in burdening the team with any more dead weight – what good was he if he couldn’t join them in their efforts? The Blade of Marmora was offering him something he couldn’t refuse: a chance to stop this war.

  
     This mission was more than liberating planets and taking back the Galra’s tyranny. This mission was about sussing out the source of power and possibly unearthing the secret of this new Quintessence and the empire’s dependence on it.

  
     And so, he had to make the most painful decision of his life. He had to willingly walk away from the only family he had ever really had, walk away from the only place he had started to call home…from the one good thing his shitty life had graced him with.

  
     Funny how fate works.

  
     The silent sobs wracking his frame had stopped, but the tears hadn’t. Keith took a deep breath as he finally managed to even out his breathing. He could do this. He had to.

  
     Removing his shaking hands from his face, he grabbed the pack he had dropped and straightened up to his full height. He was about to take a step when a voice whispered through the air.

  
     “Keith?”

  
     Lance. Probably wondering why he was just standing in the hallway. He hoped he hadn’t seen his breakdown.

  
     Unable to face him for fear of breaking again, he quickly activated his face mask and pulled his hood further down his face. Without any further acknowledgment, Keith walked silently through the door. This time, he didn’t stop to hear the click.


End file.
